II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 522 

To establish appropriate penalties for cocaine-related offenses, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2023 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mr. LEE, Mr. WICKER, and Mr. GRAHAM) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish appropriate penalties for cocaine-related 

offenses, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Start Making Adjust5 ments and Require Transparency in Cocaine Sentencing 

6 Act’’ or the ‘‘SMART Cocaine Sentencing Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. PENALTIES FOR COCAINE-RELATED OFFENSES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 (1) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT.—Section 

2 401(b)(1) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 

3 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)) is amended— 

4 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

5 (i) in clause (ii), in the matter pre6 ceding subclause (I), by striking ‘‘5 kilo7 grams’’ and inserting ‘‘4 kilograms’’; and 

8 (ii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘280 

9 grams’’ and inserting ‘‘1,600 grams’’; and 

10 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 

11 (i) in clause (ii), in the matter pre12 ceding subclause (I), by striking ‘‘500 

13 grams’’ and inserting ‘‘400 grams’’; and 

14 (ii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘28 

15 grams’’ and inserting ‘‘160 grams’’. 

16 (2) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES IMPORT AND

17 EXPORT ACT.—Section 1010(b) of the Controlled 

18 Substances Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 

19 960(b)) is amended— 

20 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

21 (i) in subparagraph (B), in the matter 

22 preceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘5 kilo23 grams’’ and inserting ‘‘4 kilograms’’; 


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1 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

2 ‘‘280 grams’’ and inserting ‘‘1,600 

3 grams’’; and 

4 (iii) in subparagraph (H), by striking 

5 the period at the end and inserting a semi6 colon; and 

7 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (i) in subparagraph (B), in the matter 

9 preceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘500 

10 grams’’ and inserting ‘‘400 grams’’; 

11 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

12 ‘‘28 grams’’ and inserting ‘‘160 grams’’; 

13 and 

14 (iii) in subparagraph (H), by striking 

15 the period at the end and inserting a semi16 colon. 

17 (b) ATTORNEY GENERAL CERTIFICATION.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—For a defendant sentenced 

19 before the date of enactment of this Act, the Attor20 ney General shall submit to the court that sentenced 

21 the defendant a certification regarding whether, in 

22 the opinion of the Attorney General, the sentence of 

23 the defendant should be reduced, as if the amend24 ments made by subsection (a) were in effect at the 

25 time the offense was committed. In making a certifiVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:20 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S522.IS S522

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1 cation under this paragraph, the Attorney General 

2 shall consider the factors in section 3553(a) of title 

3 18, United States Code. 

4 (2) RESENTENCING.—If the Attorney General 

5 submits a certification under paragraph (1) indi6 cating that, in the opinion of the Attorney General, 

7 the sentence of the defendant should be reduced, as 

8 if the amendments made by subsection (a) were in 

9 effect at the time the offense was committed, the 

10 court that imposed the sentence of the defendant 

11 may impose such a reduced sentence. 

12 SEC. 3. FEDERAL RESEARCH. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

14 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in 

15 coordination with the Administrator of the Drug Enforce16 ment Administration and the Secretary of Health and 

17 Human Services, shall review and submit to the Com18 mittee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Health, 

19 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the 

20 Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Energy 

21 and Commerce of the House of Representatives a report 

22 on— 

23 (1) the average individual dosage amount of 

24 both powder cocaine and cocaine base; 


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1 (2) the lethality of both powder cocaine and co2 caine base as measured by individual dosage; 

3 (3) the impact on lethality that polysubstance 

4 use, specifically as to synthetic drugs such as 

5 fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances, has on 

6 both powder cocaine and cocaine base users; 

7 (4) the addictiveness of both powder cocaine 

8 and cocaine base; 

9 (5) the violence attributed to or associated with 

10 both powder cocaine and cocaine base, which may in11 clude but is not limited to, criminal charges, statu12 tory enhancements, criminal history, and recidivism 

13 data; and 

14 (6) the impact on addictiveness that 

15 polysubstance use, specifically as to synthetic drugs 

16 such as fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances, 

17 has on both powder cocaine and cocaine base users. 

18 (b) REPORT BY UNITED STATES SENTENCING COM19 MISSION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

21 the date of enactment of this Act, the United States 

22 Sentencing Commission shall submit to Congress 

23 and publicly issue a report regarding cocaine of24 fenses and offenders. 


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1 (2) CONTENTS.—The report under paragraph 

2 (1) shall include— 

3 (A) an analysis of data available to the 

4 Commission on Federal cocaine offenses and of5 fenders; 

6 (B) an updated description of the forms of 

7 cocaine, methods of use, effects, dependency po8 tential, effects of prenatal exposure, and preva9 lence of cocaine use; 

10 (C) an updated description of trends in co11 caine trafficking patterns, price, and use; 

12 (D) a review of State sentencing policies 

13 and an examination of the interaction of State 

14 penalties with Federal prosecutorial decisions; 

15 (E) a review of recent Federal case law de16 velopments relating to Federal cocaine sen17 tencing; and 

18 (F) recommendations to Congress. 

Æ 


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